D-Schools 2007

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

Providence, R.I.

2,258 students, both grad and undergrad
Art and Design

Partnerships
Academic: MIT Sloan, Brown University Engineering, and, as of this year, Babson College
Business: Nokia is a perennial project sponsor.
Top Employers: Nickelodeon, Target, Martha Stewart

Claim to Fame: Chris van Allsburg, creative mastermind behind such hits as Jumanji, is an alumnus. So is Seth MacFarlane, the creator of hit show Family Guy.

Signature Programs: RISD's partnership with MIT sets the standard for interdisciplinary teaching, putting designers, MBAs, and engineers into teams to work on product development and business models. Sometimes projects are for corporate clients like Nokia; other times students turn them into entrepreneurial startups of their own.